The Ottawa Senators will try to keep their longest winning streak of the season going when they host the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday night.
The Senators have won four in a row following Tuesday’s 6-3 victory against the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets.
“We’re playing with a lot more confidence,” Ottawa defenseman Thomas Chabot said. “We’re not so fragile.”
The winning streak also includes overtime victories against the Nashville Predators and Detroit Red Wings and a 5-3 triumph against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday.
“I can see more of a professional attitude and I see a lot more life and enthusiasm within the team,” Senators coach Jacques Martin said. “I think there’s some good vibes. I think they enjoy each other as a group. I think they enjoy coming to the rink and having some success. I think it’s a nice reward for how they’re playing.”
Ottawa faced some adversity before the game even started against the Blue Jackets. The Senators played with five defensemen after Artem Zub could not take the ice because of a lower-body injury, and Ottawa could not recall a replacement from the AHL because of NHL salary cap constraints.
The Senators eased some of the pressure by scoring three goals in the first period, which continued a trend of fast starts.
“Just getting into our game right away,” said Ottawa forward Brady Tkachuk, who finished with a hat trick. “You’re seeing a lot of guys stepping up in these last couple games and that’s the expectation of how we want to play.”
Chabot, who assisted on Tkachuk’s third goal on Tuesday, said his teammate has been “the rock” for Ottawa this season.
“He’s always the one that needs to face every noise, whether they’re good or bad,” Chabot said of Tkachuk. “To see him have a good game like that and carry the load for us, I mean, every guy is happy for him.”
The Senators had two power play goals against the Blue Jackets and scored another goal short-handed.
“Hopefully, we can build off of it and keep getting better,” Tkachuk said of the special teams. “I think the last couple games we’ve had a lot of looks, we just haven’t been able to bury it, but we’ll use (Tuesday) night as a steppingstone and keep building off of it.”
The Ducks are hoping to improve on their most recent game on Tuesday, when their 5-0 loss against the Montreal Canadiens kicked off their four-game road trip.
Anaheim managed just 13 shots on goal while allowing 38.
“You can deal with wins and losses, but when you go out there and perform like that as a team, that’s when you have to start looking in the mirror,” Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler said. “(The Canadiens) did a great job, they played hard. We didn’t, and that’s why you see a result like that.”
The Ducks took a major step toward getting healthier as rookie defenseman Pavel Mintyukov returned against the Canadiens after missing 11 games with a dislocated shoulder. Center Mason McTavish also returned after missing one game with a lower-body injury.
Trevor Zegras could be the next player to return. Zegras broke his ankle on Jan. 11 and was initially expected to miss 6-8 weeks.
–Field Level Media